Bbc 'biased' Audience

[lindapalmara]

David Dimbleby replied to Nigel Farage's comment on a left wing biased audience saying that an independent body had been chosen. This body turned out to be Poll Company ICM who are linked to.........The Guardian. Surprise, surprise!

I don't usually agree with Farage but it hit me early in the debate on that the audience were generally left wing.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/03/7m-people-watched-leaders-debate-itv-seven-etchingham

[jim360]

Well, it was still a pretty bad move to say that the audience "lacked comprehension" -- which is slightly different from accusing them of being left-wing.

ICM may be linked to the Guardian but its methods are similar to those of all other polling companies -- based on statistics -- and I believe they are available online if you look in the right places.

[Marshwarble]

Whatever the bias of the audience it shouldn't be the subject of the debate itself.

[ichkeria]

He was getting some good audience reaction until he effectively called the audience a bunch of numpties. It cooled a bit after that :-)

[ichkeria]

ICM poll for the Guardian and in fact their polls usually favour the Tories as it happens. But I can't see why that would mean they were therefore going to flood the hall with 'lefties'. They would lose their credibility if they did that.
It's the same old Tory conceit. My arguments are not going down too well ergo it must be the fault of the thickish/lefties in the audience ...

[Old_Geezer]

Well I didn't watch it, but if the audience was indeed selected by independent random means and truly represented the population at large, then Nigel Farage was probably right in claiming they were a bunch of "numpties". It'd been a biased audience if they weren't. But it wasn't very politically astute of him to point it out though. Most politicians only come up with that sort of revelation when they think the microphone is off. :-D

[sp1814]

lindapalmara

You don't have to be left wing to disagree with Farage.

Are you suggesting that the audience was deliberately 'fixed' by ICM?

[Bazile]

//You don't have to be left wing to disagree with Farage. //

But It helps :-)

[Peter Pedant]

// Are you suggesting that the audience was deliberately 'fixed' by ICM? //

well if she doesnt, I will

Farage ( and I didnt see the debate I ironed some knitting instead ) mentioned that nuclear disarmament got loud applause and immigration got silence, and I agree that is suspicious

and then everyhone seem to agree that the audience was selected.
A surprise to me - on Question time we were just herded on willy-nilly.
Now the difficulty is - the pollsters say - is that one can get more unemployed let us say in any sample, so....do you accept it, or do you go for quota filling ?
and quota-filling with a moments thought.... you select the people you want.

SO if the Poll company says yes we tried to quota fill
then they would have been seleccting ....

[ichkeria]

I don't recall nuclear disarmament getting a rousing reception
I don't see the point of having a biased audience anyway. How would that help one side or the other! The question on immigration was framed from a 'right wing' point of view for what it's worth but there was no debating from the floor so the views of the audience were irrelevant

[Gromit]

If you are as far right wing as Farage then every other opinion is to the left of yours.
He normally preaches to the converted, so when he meets a more normal audience than the fruitcakes he normally addresses, then he flounders like he did last night.
Most polling companies have to be independent even if they are commissioned by newspapers with a bias.

[Gromit]

Just looked up ICM.
They also work for the Sunday Torygraph.

[Alex99]

The Nuclear Disarmament question did indeed get a big round of applause.
Strange how it went quiet when Ed Milliband said that immigration needs to be brought under control, yet groaned when Nigel Farage suggested the housing shortage was partly to do with immigration..

The " balanced " BBC audience didn't surprise me at all.

[anotheoldgit]

It was brought up on Question Time also and Dimbleby didn't know which way to turn, he got in quite a fluster.

[Ellipsis]

It's natural that the audience would be on the left. If you were right of centre, why would you have wanted to attend this debate of left wingers plus Farage? The only question for a right winger is "Tory or UKIP?"

[mikey4444]

Linda...had it occurred to you that the reason that most of the TV audience were against Farage wasn't because they were left wing, rather that they didn't like him or what his Partys stands for ?

After all, if UKIP are polling about 15% in most of the Polls, that must mean that about 85% don't like UKIP....or is that too logical ?

I don't believe that the majority of the TV audience were "lefties" But even if they were, it was still very foolish of Farage to say that they "lacked comprehension" He committed the classic stage mistake...he insulted his audience and he never recovered from his mistake.

[mikey4444]

Methyl has it bang on the button here...even the Tories are left wing compared to UKIP ! That is why UKIP exists...it is the rabid rump of the Tory party.

[lindapalmara]

Mikey

It wasn't just the Farage comment that made me realise the audience were biased. Look how Srurgeon got cheered every time she said she wanted to stitch up the English and begged Milliband to let her prop up Labour. I could have understood that reaction if it had been held in Glasgow. When my husband and I went on Question Time some years ago we were asked how we voted. We talked to David Dimbleby afterwards and asked him how the audience was chosen and he said it was done on a percentage of voters in the main parties. Labour were in at the time. It seemed a well balanced audience.

[mikey4444]

Linda...we shall have to agree to disagree then. Listen to "Any Questions" tonight, on Radio 4 and see how that pans out. Mark Reckless, one of only 2 UKIP MPs is appearing...lets see how he manages to charm the audience.

Lets hope he doesn't make the same mistake as his Boss did last night !